The present invention relates to operational controls for document reproduction machines, particularly to those document reproduction machines having a dominant copy production mode with a plurality of other selectable copy production modes.
Transfer electrographic and other forms of document reproduction machines have been used for years as convenience copiers, as well as in higher throughput copy production applications, such as found in printing or publication centers with the trend to electronic controls of such machines, greater flexibility in automatically controlling these machines has been found economically feasible. The interaction of electronic circuits including programmed processors. With the document reproduction procesor, such as a transfer electrographic processor, can provide enhanced operator conveniences.
A document reproduction machine particularly of the convenience copier type finds diverse usage. That is, a convenience copier having a collator with duplex copying capability (images are impressed on both sides of the copy paper) as well as simplex copying (image on one side of the copy paper). Non-collating functions tend to be used in patterns in accordance with the environmental operational requirements. Many convenience copiers are in an office type environment. In offices, the most common type of copy job is to copy a single sheet of paper on one side. This is not to say that the total number of copies produced on such a document reproduction machine is greater in a single original single copy mode, but that the number of times the copier is used, i.e., the number of jobs in such mode, is the greatest number. For example, if a 50 page document were to be reproduced and automatically collated into 20 copies, a relatively large number of copies are made. However, the number of copy jobs of this type in an office may be limited. When such a special type of job is being performed on the convenience copier, the user attitude is to correctly perform the copy job. Therefore, the attention of the user is focused on the operator selections available to the user for ensuring a successful copy job. On the other hand, in the dominant copy mode, single copy single original, the average user will be impatient with the machine and tend to quickly insert the original into the convenience copier and expect a single copy without further adieu. In other words, the user in the dominant mode is focusing attention on an office procedure other than copy production. With such an interrelationship between a user and a convenience copier, the copy run is error prone. That is, since the operator is not focusing appropriate attention to the convenience copier, more than a single copy is likely to be made if the previous user had used the machine in a non-dominant mode. Such proneness to error is not suitably accommodated by user training, in that many convenience copiers are used by casual users who have no real interest in the copier as a machine. Errors in such simple dominant reproduction modes create unnecessary expense to the user, as well as irritation to the casual user -- and possibly embarrassment.
In relatively primitive convenience copier machines, i.e., machines having but one or two modes of copy production, the problems stated above still exist, but with lesser intensity. In those convenience copiers having a plurality of modes involving complex copy jobs, the above stated problem can become more acute.
Some convenience copiers, in the past, included a mode selection portion in an operators console termed "special features." Such mode selection would include selection of an alternate source of paper, two-sided copying, and a selection for a light original document. After a time-out of approximately 50 seconds, after completing a single copy run, irrespective of the copier state, such selections would be automatically reset to normal original, normal paper tray and single sided copying. The number of copies selected to be produced would remain to be adjusted by the next user.
Another copier having a so-called reduction feature, included a time-out circuit responsive to the completion of a copy run to return the number of copies selected to be made to unity, and adjusting the mode of operation of the machine from a reduction to a non-reduction mode. Both of the above referenced machines operated on the basis of a copy run, irrespective of copy jobs. The time-out was subject to interruption upon initiation of a new copy run.
For avoiding errors of copy production caused by error-prone casual users, further controls are necessary for ensuring that the convenience copier performs the functions desired by such a casual user without any emphasis by the user on mode selection of the convenience copier.